Ask most people what they know about the Salton Sea and you may be met with an inquisitive look. They’ve probably heard of it or seen a film or photographs made there but chances are, they really don’t know too much about it. That was certainly the case with Larry and me. We had heard it was a treasure trove of photographic opportunity with dried up salt beds and lots of cool old junk to shoot. We didn’t know what to expect but we knew we would be in for an interesting experience.

The most fascinating thing about the Salton Sea is its origin. It was formed by one of the largest man induced natural catastrophes to ever occur in California and yet, like I mentioned before, so few of us know this story.

First let me give you a little geographical reference. The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake in the Sonoran Desert. It occupies the Salton Basin, a remnant of the prehistoric Lake Cahuilla.

The trouble began when efforts to bring water into the desert went horribly wrong. In 1905 the Colorado River burst through a poorly built irrigation system. If any of you have ever experience the power of this river, you can imagine the ramifications of this. The water raged through for 2 years – first filling the basin and then naturally overflowing to destroy the farms and community it had been routed to nourish. Even the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad was destroyed.

In 1907 the flow was finally stopped when boulders, dumped by boxcars formed a line of protective levees. By then, this inland lake was 40 miles long & 13 miles wide making it one of the largest in California.

Its fascinating history does not end there however… the Salton Sea became the place to be in the 1960’s when Rat Ryan and Trav Rogers built the North Shore Beach & Yacht club. This was the largest marina in Southern California and the rich and famous like Marilyn Monroe, Beach Boys and the Marx Bros. came to party and dock their boats. Unfortunately the constant fluctuating water levels and flooding caused serious problems over the years and finally a big flood in 1981 closed down the yacht club for good. Today the club and the surrounding shore line is completely abandoned. We didn’t know any of the sea’s history when we visited. The scene we saw was so out of context, it was hard to make sense of it all.

Not that getting there was all that easy however. We got many puzzled looks from gas station attendants when we asked where we might find “ all the abandoned cool old crap”. Every one kept directing us to Salton City but we had this vision of what the Salton Sea was all about and it did not contain strip malls and Burger Kings. We finally surmised our best bet was to head towards the beach and just poke around. We saw an old sign for a marina off the highway and decided this would be good place to start.

The road to the marina led us through a little town, with mini vans in the driveways and kids riding their bikes through the quiet streets. It was not all what we were expecting. How could the weird place we were imagining be in the middle of a suburban neighborhood? As we approached the beach however, things took a dramatic turn.

The first thing we noticed when we got out of the car was the smell. Funky does not even begin to describe it. We later found out there is an algae in the water that causes this unfortunate odor. As we were walking around I couldn’t help but have apocalyptic thoughts. Toys, handbags, office chairs, the detritus of every day life was just strewn everywhere. Houses that once sat on primo beachfront property now looked war torn and dilapidated. Our shoes were covered in a white salty sludge. One part of my mind was reliving every horror film I’d ever seen and another was planning on how to get models out here for a photo shoot. It was just that strange yet beautiful. I still can’t wrap my mind around the normal little town carrying on its day-to-day business just feet away from this salt encrusted tomb.

It would be so easy to write this place off as cursed or doomed. It has certainly seen its share of misfortune, and yet communities thrive around it and birds find sanctuary on its shores. It’s a real testament to both the wrath of nature and its ability to protect and persevere.